L.A. sheriff says pot dispensaries have become crime targets

LOS ANGELES ---- Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca on
Wednesday took aim at the medical marijuana industry, citing last
week's triple murder in West Hollywood as an example of how
enterprising criminals have infiltrated some of the
dispensaries.

Baca said the dispensaries have strayed from their original
mission ---- to aid the seriously ill ---- and are now the target
of criminals who see an easy way to make money and get drugs.

"The medicinal marijuana program that voters authorized years
ago has been hijacked by underground drug-dealing criminals who are
resorting to violence in order to control their piece of the
action," Baca said.

The sheriff did not provide any specific examples, though there
have been several high-profile killings this summer tied to medical
marijuana businesses. In addition to the West Hollywood killing,
which detectives said was tied to a scheme to buy pot from medical
dispensaries and resell it on the streets, workers at dispensaries
in the Echo Park neighborhood of L.A. and Hollywood were killed
during robberies in June.

There has been much debate about whether the proliferation of
marijuana dispensaries has resulted in more crime. But Baca is
emerging as a vocal critic of liberalizing pot laws, particularly a
state ballot measure that would legalize marijuana use. The
campaign to defeat Proposition 19 announced Wednesday that Baca and
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will head up the effort against
the marijuana legalization measure on the November ballot.

Baca said he's concerned that the hundreds of medical marijuana
establishments around L.A. County are making it easier for people
to access the drug -- and that is attracting criminal elements as
well as patients with legitimate needs for the drugs.

The sheriff spoke at a news conference announcing the arrest of
a suspect in the West Hollywood fatal shootings. Authorities say
two victims, Pirooz Moussazadeh and Bernard Shahriar, both 27,
bought marijuana from local dispensaries and other locations and
then resold it for a profit.

Harold Yong Park, 31, was charged Tuesday in the killings.
Detectives said Park told them that he previously bought and sold
high-grade marijuana from the two victims. Thursday night, a
dispute erupted, and officials said Park killed the pair along with
Shahriar Moussazadeh, who detectives said was not involved in the
drug deal. Park allegedly took marijuana from the apartment.

There have been at least six killings tied to the marijuana
trade in L.A. County this year. The Los Angeles Police Department
has recorded dozens of lesser crimes, such as robberies and
burglaries.

___

(Times staff writer John Hoeffel contributed to this
article.)

___

(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.

Visit the Los Angeles Times on the Internet at
http://www.latimes.com/.